trowbridge



(No Model.)

' J. H. TROWBRIDGE.

MACHINE POR TRIMMING BDGINGS. i l1.\To.26`8,440. Patented Deo. 5, 1882..

Its

l UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN H. TBOWBRIDGE, OF NEWARK, NEV JERSEY.

MACHINE FOR `TRIMIVIHIG EDGINGS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 268,440, dated December 51, 1882.

i Appllcation filed August 19, 1852. (No modele.)

Tocll .whom it may concern Beit known that I, J. H. TRowBRtDGE, a citizen ot' the United States, residing in the city of Newark, county ot' Essex, and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hamburg Edging Trimmers, fully described and represented in the following specification, and the accompanying drawings, iorming a part of the same.

This invention is intended for trimming the edges of such embroidered fabrics as have a raised figure, produced by hand or by machinery, with an uneven outline in proximity to the border of the fabric. In finishing such goods for use it is necessary to clipor trim oft' thatpart of the ground fabric which lies between the projecting scallops or lobes of the embroidered pattern; and the object of my invention is to furnish a machine that will accurately and rapidly `remove this surplus fabric in conformity with the embroidered pattern itselt'. As such patterns vary indefinitely, it is desirable to construct a machine of such character that the raised `embroidery-figure may serve as a guide to the tool for cutting close to it, and I have accordinglyconstructed my machine with a punching-cutter having a gage located close to it for admitting the ground fabric to the cutter and preventing the approach of the raised pattern thereto within acertain distance.

My invention will be understood by reference to the annexed drawings, in `which Figure 1 is a plan of a piece of Hamburg edging77 having a raised pattern worked adjacent to its border, and a part of the projecting ground fabric,removed as it'done by my method.

Fig. 2 is an end view ofthe sanne edging, showing the raised pattern upon one edge of the` same. Fig. 3 is a plan of a machine for carrying out my invention, the top of the guard being removed. Fig. 4 is a front view of the same, and Fig; 5'is a side view of' the samein section on line an x in Fig. 4, ,the parts being shown of full size, or twice the scale of the Figs. 3 and 4. Fig. 6 represents a die.

The invention consists essentially in a table or bed on which the embroidered edging lies while being cut, a cutter of suitable shape to penetrate between the projecting lobes ot' the edging, and a gage permitting the access of ing secured to the free end of a vibrating lever, D, arranged to projectover the bed A, and the gage being combined with a guard, G, which covers the working parts when in use to exclude the fibers cut from the edgings.

A die, a, is shown inserted in a seat iu the bed A, and is formed with a notch to t the punch at its rear edge, being held adjustably in the seat by a screw, b, so that it can be set in close contact with the cutter as the latter wears away itself and the die.

A plan of the cutter isshown in contact with the trimmed edging in Fig. 1, its lsection being of tapered form toward the embroidered pattern and rounded slightly at its apex in front.` By such shape it is not only enabled to penetrate between the lobes cof the edging d, but a continued contact of both the sides and front corner of the cutter with the die may be secured by adjusting the die toward it, as t described above.

The cutter is vibrated up and down by the motion of the lever D, being raised above the die, as shown in Fig. 5, for the insertion of the fabric under it, and pressed down into it sufficiently to cut oft'the fabric, somewhat as a punch operates upon sheet metal. The lever D is hinged at the rear of the frame E,which supports the bed A, and is vibrated by a shalt, F, having au eccentric pin, c, fitted to a sliding block, f,about the middle of the lever D. The front end of the lever projects above the bed A, and has the cutter B secured removably to its under side by screws t, so that the cutter may be removed and sharpened by grinding its under face, and that it may be renewed at pleasure.' By this means cutters and dies ot' different shapes may be applied to the same machine to suit embroidery having lobes of different kinds. The die is easily removed IDO 2 sesamo the latter accurately into the die two guides, L, are provided, of bracket form, bearing upon opposite sides ot' the lever D, near the cutter, and adjusted by their feet t upon the bed A, so as to keep the leve-r in place during its vibrations. The block f plays back and forth in a slot, g, in the lever, and the shaft F is supported in bearings I upon the frame E, to receive a pulley, H, and {jy-wheel J, at a suitable distance from the bed A. By this construction the cutter may be vibrated several thousand times per minute, and its operation in trimming the edging becomes practically as continuous as that of a shears.

The guard G is secured to a rearward projection of the bed A,and extends over the top of the vibrating lever and down the front face of the cutter nearly to the level of the bed. It is also shaped to fit nearly against the sides of the cutter,thus inclosing it completely, ex-

cepting the slit s between its bottoni edge and the surface of the die, where the cutter penetrates the latter. The slit can be regulated in regard t0 its width by packing Linder the feet of the guard, where they rest upon the rear of the bed at t' ,and the fabric on which the embroidery is worked may t--hus be permitted entrance tothe cutter behind or inside the guard, while theraised pattern c is excluded, as shown in Fig. 5.

To trim the edgings when the machine is in motion the surplus fabric between the lobes@ is inserted into the slit s under the gage and the edging moved along upon the bed A, with the raised pattern c in contact with the gage C. As rapidly as the operator can place the successive indentations of the lobes in contact with the gage the surplus fabric passes beneath the edges of the cutter and is instantly removed, thus trimming off the edging at a uniform distance from the pattern o. It' the edge ofthe gage be beveled outward, as shown in Fig. 5, the pattern o will move very close to the cutter, and yet be prevented from injury thereby.

With the use of a rmachine as described four hundred yards of Hamburg edging may be trimmed in a day by an average operator, and the work done much more uniformly than when performed with a hand-shears.

The'nat ure ot' my invention being understood from the above description, it is obvious that itinvolves a new method of gaging the cutting by the raised pattern formed upon such edgingsas my invention is designed to trim, and that the means for carrying out the invention may be varied greatly without departing from my new method. The cutter could thus be placed at the end of the needle-bar in a sewing-machine and made to operate in a die secured upon the table of such a machine. In

such case the cutter could .be formed as a small round or triangular punch, and when provided with a suitable gage would operate as described above. Such a punch attached to a vertical bar would scarcely need any guard before it, the one shown at G in my drawings being necessitated chiefly by the vibrating character of the moving appliances and the danger to the operator from such a'cutter. I do not therefore limit myself to the precise construction and arrangement of the parts required to carry myinvention into practice, and whatever novel matter is described and not claimed in this application is claimed or reserved to be claimed in future applications by me. I may thus at a future timev prefer to dispense with a bed, as A, and arrange the cutter and die so that the slit under the gage shall be vertical. The fabric can then rest by its weight in thel slit and the raised pattern adjust itself by its weight as it is pulled along in contact with the gage.

I claim my invention as follows:

1. In a machine for trimming edgings having a raised pattern worked at the border, the

.combination of a die and gage between which the surplus fabric upon the border ofthe edging is passed anda cutter operating behind the gage, in connection with the die, to trim olf such surplus, as described.

2. The method herein shown and described for trimming edgings having a raised pattern worked at the border, consisting in gaging the cutting and trimming device by the contact of a gage with the raised pattern, substantially as herein set forth.

3. The combination, with the die a and cutterB, of the gage Crarranged and operating as a guard to protect the operator from injury by the cutter, substantially as described. 4. The combination of the cutter having sides inclined toward one another upon the front side, substantially as shown, with a die operating in contact with the inclined sides and adjustable toward their apex or front end, as and for the purpose set forth.

5. The combination, with table A and die a,

.I Joan H. iraowBRiDeE. Witnesses :V

GHAs. C. HERRICK, THos. S. CRANE.

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